I did the very best I could: The status of propertied widows in nineteenth century Louisiana

Many sugar planters in Louisiana depended on credit to develop and expand their operations. Over the years, failure to meet financial obligations encumbered many plantations with excessive debt. A planter's death could place at risk the emotional stability and economic security of the family and leave his widow alone and unprepared to bear family responsibilities.; This dissertation examines the legal responsibilities and the financial decisions of nineteen widows in one parish (Iberville) and one state (Louisiana) whose economic circumstances took them far beyond the traditional duties of most plantation mistresses and mothers. Sources utilized include census records, conveyance documents, succession papers, wills, tax assessments, books of donations, miscellaneous and mortgage registers, local and state histories, parish newspapers, Louisiana's Civil Code, and over a hundred civil cases generated by or against many of the nineteen widows in this study.; No longer the dependent and protected partner, a widow had to shoulder both the private and public responsibilities essential for their family's survival. How effectively did Louisiana widows handle their newly acquired legal and economic responsibilities? Most wealthy property-owning widows were forced by necessity to step out of the stereotypical behavior patterns of female dependency and submission and enter, sometimes unwillingly, the public sphere of law and economics, a world that required, among other attributes, competence and decisiveness from its participants. Property-owning widows handled the catastrophe of losing a partner with perseverance and courage and faced the challenges of survival with determination and fortitude. Not all of their resolutions, however, proved satisfactory.